Former Democratic Rep. John Hall speaks to the crowd in between songs at Thursday night's anti-nuclear rally at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza in New York City. / Greg Clary/The Journal News

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Greg Clary

NEW YORK — More than 150 people turned out Thursday evening to call for the closing of Indian Point, an effort to expand an opposition campaign from the Hudson Valley to New York City.

"We've got to have your help," organizer Marilyn Elie told a gathering at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza on East 47th Street. "You're at risk, we're at risk, and together we can eliminate that risk. We can close Indian Point."

Among the speakers were New York City Rep. Jerrold Nadler and former Hudson Valley Rep. John Hall, who called on his rock 'n' roll roots to play anti-nuclear songs for the crowd, including his latest, "I Told You So."

The specter of Japan's tragic nuclear accident at Fukushima was apparent throughout the 90-minute rally, from speeches by a college student who was in the country at the time to signs equating the Asian reactors to those on the Hudson River.

Curious East Side Manhattanites wandered through the ranks, some with questions about Indian Point's location, as a Japanese camera crew interviewed participants.

A spokesman for the industry group New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance milled through the crowd as well, handing out fliers promoting the plant's safety record, investment in the site, and economic contribution to the region.

"If successful, these activists will eliminate hundreds of high-paying jobs and almost a billion dollars in annual economic activity in our state, will worsen our air-quality downstate, and drive electricity costs significantly higher," NYAREA Chairman Jerry Kremer said in a statement. "City residents should know that without nuclear power, their electricity rates will rise and environmental problems will also rise."

Many of those in the crowd were regulars at annual Indian Point meetings held near the plant by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

"Riverkeeper wants you to understand that if anyone tells you that what happened at Fukushima cannot happen here in New York, they are wrong," said Paul Gallay, president of the environmental group. "They are either optimistic or misinformed or maybe they just don't want us to have a more sustainable energy future than we can have with Indian Point."

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo has vowed to shut the plant and is getting support from state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

Though the state doesn't decide on the plant's relicensing application, it has a say in water-use permits that Indian Point needs to continue operating for 20 years after its licenses expire in 2015.

So far, New York state regulators have denied the permit and are contesting the relicensing as part of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission review of Indian Point's extention request.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said shutting the plant will create too great a strain on the electrical grid that powers the New York metropolitan area and not enough has been done to build replacement power.

A spokesman for Indian Point's parent company, Entergy Nuclear, said before the rally that the plants do not present the danger that Fukushima did because the likelihood of a one-two punch of an earthquake and tsunami hitting Buchanan is in no way comparable to the Japanese site.

"Nevertheless, Entergy is part of a larger industry initiative to capture lessons learned if necessary from Fukushima, including adding more protections," said Jim Steets.

"And the NRC recently completed a 90-day post-Fukushima assessment that could also lead to additional enhancements," he said.

Nadler said the NRC was too close to the industry to be a legitimate regulator and questioned the location of any nuclear plant so close to the nation's largest population center.

"The struggle to close Indian Point is the latest chapter in the struggle for common sense," Nadler said.

Nadler said Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima have shown the kind of accidents that can happen.

"If it can happen, it will happen," Nadler said. "(The NRC is) as good at regulating nuclear power companies as the (Securities and Exchange Commission) is at regulating the Wall Street banks."